A Last Chance for One Last Dance
by sillybooks
Summary: He wants a mother as well as she wants a father. When two kids, looking through old photos, realize their parents dated at high school, they'll do everything they can to fulfill their dream of getting their parents together again.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters._

_A HUGE thanks to my Beta Reader Angeltales321. She made it so much better! Thank you, again!  
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><p>Prologue<p>

"Mommy! Mommy! Wake up, Mommy!" Isabella Swan was rudely woken by the tiny little person jumping on her bed. Bella moans against her pillow, wondering how her daughter is able to get up before the alarm rings, but figures it is beyond her mental capacity to understand. She opens one eye, looks at the alarm clock on the nightstand and moans one more time.

"Lilly, I had five more minutes!"

"Let's go, Mommy! Let's go!" the excited little girl exclaims, pulling on one of Bella's arms, trying to drag her out of bed. It's at times like this that Bella realizes her daughter spends too much time with Alice Brandon.

"Okay! I'm coming! Just calm down!" Bella says drowsily, rubbing her eyes. "Why have you been so excited to go to school lately?"

Lilly flashes a bright smile at her mom. "Today, Anthony's Dad is going to drive me to school with them. Don't you remember?"

Bella smirks at her daughter. "Oh, so all that excitement is about Anthony?" She squeezes Lilly's cheeks lightly. "That's so cute! My little girl has got a boyfriend already!"

Lilly jumps out of her mother's bed and stomps her feet. "I do not have a boyfriend!" she grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest.

Bella laughs and gets up. "Okay, let's get ready." She takes Lilly's little hand in hers and the two of them make their way into the bathroom. "I mean, boyfriends don't like to wait too much, that's something you need to know."

"Mom!" Lilly whines, followed by Bella's laugh. She hasn't met Anthony or his father yet. The elementary school is in the opposite direction from Bella's job's path, so her friend Alice is the one who drives Lilly to school. However, today Alice would be out with her fiancé, Jasper, so Anthony's father offered to give Lilly a ride.

Of course, as a mother, Bella was worried about letting her daughter go alone in a car with some guy she had never met before, but Alice had calmed her down, saying that he was a friend of hers and that he was a very reliable and responsible man.

What Bella doesn't know, though, is that Alice is at home right now, wearing pajamas and that Jasper isn't even in the town.

When the doorbell rings, Lilly doesn't run to answer the door like she normally does. Walking past her, Bella raises one eyebrow, but doesn't say a thing. She opens the door with a beautiful smile on her face, but it immediately disappears. Her eyes widen as she comes to realize who the man looking at her is.

"_Edward?_"

Edward is surprised too. "Bella? Isabella Swan? What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here? This is my house!"

She seems upset, Edward thinks, knowing he must go away. He's probably at the wrong house and if he doesn't rush, his son will be late for school, but he can't stop looking at her.

Bella is simply amazing.

She's even more beautiful than she was as a teenager. He wishes he could touch her hair and caress her skin. He wishes he could do many other things, but when he sees some tears shining in her eyes, he remembers their past and instantly feels bad. He tries to think of something to say, but before he's able to do anything, Lilly appears at Bella's side.

"Hello, Mr. Cullen."

He looks down at the little girl and although he's very swayed by Bella's presence, he smiles at his son's friend. "Hello sweetie. How are you today?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She smiles back at him. _Oh_. Now he understands why he always thought she reminded him of someone — mostly when she was smiling. Of course! How could he not see that before? Lilly is just like her mother. "Mr. Cullen, I'll talk to Anthony in the car. Would you mind taking my backpack, please? It is in the living room, thanks!" the little girl runs to the car without waiting for a response.

Bella narrows her eyes at Lilly's back, even though she looked pretty innocent. How could she know about anything of Bella's past, anyway?

Edward runs his fingers through his hair. "Shall I…?" he motions towards the interior of Bella's house.

She hesitates but finally says, "um… sure… come on in."

Inside the car, Lilly and Anthony are celebrating in victory.

"That was a great idea!" Anthony says, looking at the now closed door of his friend's house. "You are a genius!"

"I know!" They both laugh. "What do you think they are talking about?"

Anthony shrugs. "I don't know. Do you think they remember each other?"

"Oh, they certainly do! You should see your Dad's face!" Lilly laughs.

He looks at her. "Your mother is so pretty. She seems very nice."

"She is." Lilly smiles at him.

Anthony looks at her house again. "I wish I had a mother like yours," he sighs, remembering all of the wonderful stories Lilly tell's him about Bella.

She shifts and slips her arm around his shoulders. "I can share her with you," she says, "as long as you share your Dad with me."

He looks at her and flashes a bright smile. Everything is scheduled — their parents meet again; they fall in love again and the four of them become a family. That's the plan.

It was implied at the beginning that they would eventually share their parents (that's why the plan emerged, first of all), but they had never actually used the word "share" before. And that's really, really good to hear, Anthony thinks. _I'm going to have a mother!_

"Deal!" he says. They both shake hands and smile as Edward comes to the car while Bella watches him from the front door.


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters._

_I have the best Beta Reader Ever! Angeltales321 thank you soooo much! And you, guys... I can't even say how excited I am. Thank you _so_ much for all of your reviews and story alerts and for adding this to your favorites!  
><em>

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><p>CHAPTER 1.<p>

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><p><em>Bella POV<em>

Edward runs his fingers through his hair. "Shall I…?" he motions towards the interior of my house.

I hesitate, not knowing what to do; should I let him in? Or should I get my daughter out of his car and tell him to stay the fuck away from my house and my child? I let out a sigh and look over at Lilly in Edward's car. She seems comfortable, happy even, laughing with Anthony; I could see her bright smile from the door.

When I look back at Edward, I know I must let him in — I can't make a scene in front of the kids and I can't shut the door on his face like I'm aching to do, because we're supposed to be mature adults. God, how long have I been waiting for this moment? The chance to finally talk.

Edward had always been the good kind of guy (just a quick look at him now and you'll see he's still the same), and to watch his face when I tell what happened to me after he was gone — _what happened_ because _he was gone_ — would be priceless.

Clenching my hands into fists, I force myself to say in a calm and steady voice, "Um… sure… come on in." but all I really want to do is hit him.

I step to the side and hold the door open wider so he can enter my home. Once we are both inside the room, I rudely shut the door behind us and narrow my eyes at him.

"I'll ask you again, what are you doing here?" I demand and he frowns at me. Before he could start lying, I say, "Don't even think about it. It can't be just a coincidence that you're here. Tell me, why are you at my house?"

"I didn't know you lived here, Bella. How could I? I haven't seen you for years!"

Although that's true and he looks like he's being pretty honest, I say stubbornly, "I don't buy it."

He rolls his eyes. "What you don't buy, the truth?"

"'The truth' Edward?" I sigh. "Do you even know what that means?"

He looks me in the eyes, green orbs looking into brown ones. "Bella… what happened… that…" He shakes his head, running his fingers through his hair one more time. "We need to talk about it."

That's just what I was waiting for. "We sure do! Do you have any idea what happened to me after you left me?"

He frowns. "I didn't leave you… I mean… yeah, I did, but I… Please, let me explain it to you, Bella. Listen, I—"

"Oh, no!" I interrupt him. He won't make me feel bad; I had already felt it enough. Now it is his turn. "_You_ listen to me! Do you remember our prom in high school? The day you said you loved me; the day you fucked me and went away? Yeah, I—"

He touches my arms gently. "Please, Bella," he begs. I want to keep talking, telling him how I felt, but somehow those green eyes still have the same effect on me.

I hate myself for that.

"Can we talk about this later, please? I have to drive the kids to school now… but later… would you like to have dinner at my house?"

His words break the effect he had on me. I laugh sarcastically, "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Seriously, Cullen? Already asking me for dinner at your house?" I roll my eyes. "I'm not one of those whores you are used to dealing with."

He lets me go as if my skin had burned him. "What's wrong with you? That's not the Bella I know."

"Lots of things happened to the Bella you knew. I'm not her anymore."

"Yeah, I can see that," he says, turning his back to me. He takes Lilly's backpack and goes back to my front door. "Call me when my Bella comes back, and then we can talk." He takes a sheet of paper from the pocket of his jeans and puts it in my hand.

After he gets in his car and drives away, I close the door behind me. On that piece of paper, is his address and telephone number.

_Edward POV_

I grip the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white.

When Bella had opened the door, many different things were going on my mind, but none of the scenarios was the way we finished our conversation 2 minutes ago.

"Dad, are you okay?" Anthony's voice brings me back to the present. "You're so quiet today."

I look at him in the rearview mirror and force a smile. "I'm fine, kid. I'm just thinking." But my son knows me well enough that he can see I'm lying, so before he could say anything else, I ask Lilly, "I didn't know your mother was Bella. How long have you been living here?"

"I don't know. Since I was born, I guess." She shrugs. "Do you know her, Mr. Cullen?"

"Yes, we studied together in high school." When the lights turn red, I look over at her in the backseat. "You know you don't have to keep calling me 'Mr. Cullen' all the time, right? You can call me Edward."

Anthony whispers something to her, but all I can hear of the conversation is the word 'Daddy', which makes Lilly blush. I raise one eyebrow at my son, even though I'm smiling at the beautiful trait Lilly inherited from her mother.

"Mr.… Edward." She giggles as I look back to the street again. "How did you meet my mom?"

"Um…" I think about it and then decide that telling her how her mother and I met isn't something that's inappropriate for her to know, but how things progressed from that, though, she has to be older when told. "We had biology class together and I was terrible at it, so, timidly, your mother offered to give me some help. That's how we got to know each other better and we became… friends."

"Friends?" Lilly and Anthony ask at the same time. I look in the rearview mirror and see them drumming their little fingers against their chins thoughtfully.

It would have been a funny sight if I wasn't scared to death that they knew way more than they should.

"Do you know anything about it?" I ask uncertainly.

"No," they say again at the same time, sitting upright with the perfect portrait of innocent faces.

I just raise one eyebrow at them, because we're already at the elementary school and I don't have time to argue.

As I park the car, Anthony quickly jumps out of it. I go to help Lilly from the back-seat and onto the sidewalk, but Anthony has already done that too.

I walk behind them, carrying their backpacks and watching them whisper to one another, and I don't know how I should feel about that. I'm absolutely thrilled because my son has his first real friend — hearing him crying everyday because his "friends" were mocking him was breaking my heart — but I don't know what to think about having him around New Bella's kid. Does it mean that _I_ have to be around her? I know we have to meet again later on today — when I offered to give Lilly a ride to take her off Alice's hands, she told me that Lilly stays at her house until Bella (whose name was left out in the conversation, now I see why) comes from work to pick her up.

So I'm bringing Lilly along today, and that's why I asked Bella to have dinner with me. I had to cook for the kids and me anyway, so what was the harm in asking her to join us? I didn't see any.

But Bella clearly didn't see it that way.

Bella seems… I don't know, maybe _hurt_? I remember that I didn't let her finish what she was saying and I sigh. The things she mentioned happened so long ago! It isn't because of what I had done that she's this way — defensive and wary. It can't be.

Can it?


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters._

_Beta Reader: www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/u/2550803/Angeltales321  
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><p>CHAPTER 2.<p>

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><p><em>Lilly POV<em>

I look around the playground, searching for Anthony. I see some of the teachers chatting and a few children playing with each other while waiting for their parents to come and collect them, but Anthony is nowhere to be seen. I'm just about to ask Ms. Jones, his teacher, where he is, when the cell phone Mom gave me this morning rings inside my backpack.

"Hello mommy!" I answer excitedly. It is the first phone call I've ever received, and although she said I'm keeping the phone just for her to know I'm fine while I'm at Anthony's house, I'm still very excited about having this little black thing full of games.

"Hey baby, how are you?"

"I'm great! My class has just finished." I tell her happily. "It was so much fun! Teacher Bree played Sleepy Beauty and Teacher Riley was the Prince Charming! Oh, I looooove Prince Charming, Mom! He is so beautiful and cool and funny!"

She laughs weakly. "I'm glad to hear you're so happy and that you had fun. Are you going to the Cullen's already?"

"Nope; I don't know where Anthony is and Mr. Cullen hasn't come yet."

"As soon as you get there, do not forget to call me, okay? Also, be safe, don't talk to strangers when Edward's not around and be good to him," she says for the thousandth time. It's halfway through her speech before I realize how raspy her voice is, and I know that it gets this way only when she cries.

I agree and before she is able to say anything else, I ask, concerned, "Were you crying, Mommy?"

She sighs and says, "Mommy isn't having a good day."

"Why? What happened?"

"Well, I was feeling a little sad when I came to work, and my boss didn't like it. But I'm okay now; don't worry about me. Have lots of fun with Anthony and I will see you soon, okay? I have to go now. Love you."

"I love you, too," I say, but she had already hung up.

I frown at the phone in my hand. Mom had said she was sad when she went to work, so something had happened _before_ she had gotten there. But she was happy until the moment I got into Edward's car, so... Did he make my Mommy cry? Did their conversation make her sad?

That is something I must talk to Anthony about.

As soon as the thought crosses my mind, I feel a large and warm hand on my shoulder. I look up and Mr. Cullen is smiling down at me.

I frown.

I'm not sure how I should feel about him anymore — I mean, he's always so kind to me and to aunt Alice, he's always making us both laugh, that when I found that picture of him and Mom hugging, and when Anthony found another one where they were kissing, we thought that it was the perfect plan to get them back together, but I'm not so sure anymore. I don't want a Dad whom will make my Mom cry.

When I don't smile back and pull a face at him, he asks, "Is everything okay, Lilly?"

I don't bother to answer his question. Crossing my arms over my chest, I shoot back, "Did you make my Mommy cry?"

His eyes widen. "What? Why are you asking me that?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Did you?"

To his credit, he seems worried. "Is she okay? Were you talking to her on the phone?"

Again, I don't answer. "She said she is sad. Did you make her sad, Mr. Cullen?"

He runs his finger through his hair and looks away from me, giving the impression he is thinking about something — thinking about Mom? Well, I have to give him a point for that. He made her cry, but at least it seems like he's sorry for his actions.

I open my mouth to ask what he did, or said, to make her feel the way she is now, but Anthony runs to me before I can say anything.

"Where were you?" I ask Anthony. "I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"You won't believe what I've found out!" he says, almost jumping up and down, too excited to see the man standing next to me.

That excitement can only mean one thing, so I widen my eyes and, subtly, motion toward his Dad by my side. When he sees what I'm pointing at, he freezes.

Fortunately, Edward's mind is too far away for him to see what is going on.

On the way to their home, I can see Edward looking at me in the rearview mirror, but he doesn't say a thing, so I decide to stay quiet too.

Knowing he made mom cry doesn't please me, far from it, but what else can I do? I can't keep pushing him to answer me — I know he won't say a word (something about it being a grown-up conversation, probably), so it'll be just a waste of time.

Once Edward's car is parked, Anthony helps me to jump out of my seat and we run to his bedroom. Edward shouts something to us about being aware of the stairs, but we're not paying attention to him.

"Are you sure he won't listen to us?" I whisper as we sit on the floor cross-legged, after I call and ensure my Mom that I'm safe.

"Those wooden steps make too much noise; we'll know when he comes up here."

I nod. "Well, before you start, I have to tell you something you should know," I say, and then I tell him all about my suspicion of what's going on between our parents. When I finish explaining, he's smiling a little too much. "What?" I ask.

"That's even better! Everything fits just perfectly!" he celebrates. He looks at me and finally asks, "Do you remember Aunt Rosalie?"

"Um… Is she that tall, blonde, blue-eyed woman that sometimes goes to school with your Dad?"

"No!" Anthony makes a face. "That's Irina; she's his ex-girlfriend." He shakes his head. "Last month, when Dad got sick, Aunt Rosalie was the one who took me to school." I still can't remember her, so he keeps going on, "How can't you remember? She was with her husband. He's this big, huge guy. He messed up Alice's hair." Anthony giggles.

"Oh, I remember him doing that! Aunt Alice got really mad that day." I laugh.

"Well, I just found out today that Aunt Rose is an awesome mechanic!" he says, showing his excitement and acting as if that explained everything.

I shake my head, not understanding. "What has that got to do with anything, Anthony?"

He flashes a bright smile at me. "If I get hurt, and Dad's car doesn't work, who would get me to the hospital?"

I frown at him. "Why'd you be hurt? Plus, didn't you just say that your aunt is a mechanic? The answer is still your dad."

He shakes his head in disapproval. "C'mon, Lilly! Think with me!" He leans closer, as if the proximity could make me understand. "It's almost time for your mother to come… I get hurt… Dad's car doesn't work… Tell me, Lilly, _who_ would get me to the hospital?"

"Oh!" I say. "My Mom! Of course she would! And while you're there, she'll have to talk with your Dad and they can make up. Anthony, that's a brilliant plan!"

His smile grows, but reality hits me before we can actually talk about how things will play out.

"It won't work." I shake my head and voice my thoughts. "What about your Dad's car?"

"Of course it will work! Aunt Rose: awesome mechanic! Remember?"

"She would never agree to do that."

"She already has." His big, bright smile doesn't fade from his face.

"Really?" I ask, finally feeling the excitement in me. "How did you get her to agree to do that for you?"

"Actually, I'm not too sure how I did. I mean, there was this day when I found this red piece of cloth on my Dad's piano. Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett made me promise that I wouldn't tell him I'd found it. I didn't, I still don't, know why, but I promised anyway, and today I asked for my reward!"

"And she just agreed?" I ask, skeptical suddenly.

"Well, I had to tell her about your mom… and our plan… but it looked like she already knew, because she swore Alice's name." He shrugs. "The important thing is that she is by our side. In fact," he looks at the time on the phone display "she must be sabotaging the car right now."

—

We wait, looking through the window for Mom's car to turn the corner of the street. When we see it approaching, we rush to the edge of the stairs.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask, apprehensive. "We can think about doing something else, you know. I don't want you to get hurt, Anthony."

"Lilly, I've rolled down these stairs one thousand times. It's happened so many times that I've even learned how to fall down safely. Don't worry. I'll cry and scream a little, but it's all part of the plan."

I shake my head and hug him as tight as I can, thinking of quitting, but when we hear the car horn, he pulls me away and smiles. "It's time," he whispers.

He gets one step closer of the stairs and I close my eyes. I don't want to see that. I _can't_ see that.

My breathing is erratic and my hands are shaking. I decide that it's not going to happen; that getting our parents back together isn't worth it if it must happen this way; so I open my eyes to try and stop him, but it's too late — he's already falling down.

It's a horrible, terrible scene to be seen, and I start crying. I close my eyes again and put my hands on my ears to stop the noise, but as soon as all is quiet again, Anthony starts screaming in pain.

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><p><em>Those crazy kids! What do you think is going to happen?<em>


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters._

_Beta Reader: www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/u/2550803/Angeltales321_

_I'm in love with these kids, and I'm glad you guys also like them so far. Thank you so much for reviewing!  
><em>

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><p>CHAPTER 3.<p>

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><p><em>Bella POV<em>

I grip the steering wheel and sigh. What the hell was I thinking when I let Edward Cullen babysit my daughter? I grind my teeth together and grip the steering wheel harder. My fucking job; _that's_ what I was thinking of.

I have been working as a waitress ever since I came to Forks. It isn't a good job and it doesn't pay me a very good wage, but it's better than not working at all. I mean, I do have a child to raise.

But, worst of all, is my boss. He never misses the opportunity to say that he is sick of me being late or missing work because I have to take my daughter to the hospital or somewhere else, even though it only happened twice. I know for a fact that if I have one more absence, I'll be fired, so that's why I didn't decide to just stay home with Lilly when Alice couldn't take care of her for me.

Alice's judgment is the thing I trust the most, so I didn't suspect anything when she told me about her very "reliable and responsible" (her words) friend.

Consequently, when Edward Cullen — who knew? — knocked on my door, I didn't have any other option. For the sake of my job, I let Lilly go with him. And I deeply regret it.

As I drive down the street, I look once again at the sheet of paper Edward gave me today this morning, to see if I'm at the right address.

When I see what I assume is his house, I honk once before turning off the car and I go to the front door, anxious to see if my daughter is fine even though I had talked to her on the phone just a few hours ago. My rational side reminds me that Edward _has_ a kid himself, so he can't be that irresponsible man my mind keeps picturing, but I just can't feel anything for him apart from my huge grudge against him.

As I wait for him to open the door, I feel my heart beating faster in my chest, and when I am about to knock for the second time, I hear someone crying and screaming, followed by my little girl's yell, "_Mr. Cullen! Oh my God! Mr. Cullen!_"

_I knew it!_

I don't think twice before I open the fucking door and run into the house. All I can picture in my mind are different and painful ways to kill the fucking asshole if he hurt — if he even touched! — my daughter.

"_Mr. Cullen!_" I hear Lilly yell again and I lose it. I just keep running, following the sound and ignoring anything else around me.

When I finally find my daughter, Edward is also running, right behind me.

Ignoring the logic (he _is_ at my back, after all), I turn on my heel and stare at him. "You!" I say as I punch his chest and arms hard. "What did you do to my daughter?"

I'm about to punch him for the fourth time when he grabs my wrist to stop me. As I fight to free myself from his arms, he turns my back to his torso and crosses my arms over my chest.

"What the fuck, Bella?" he grunts and looks at Lilly. "What happened?"

As I hear the concern in his voice, for the first time since I got here I _really_ look at my child.

She's on the floor with Anthony's head lying on her lap; he's crying and holding his right arm as Lilly tries her best to calm him down, even though she seems scared as hell as she watches what happens between Edward and me.

I sigh in relief and relax in Edward's arms, but I immediately feel embarrassment and I regret having overreacted and punched him.

I'm mortified, but thinking about apologizing makes me even more humiliated, so rather than that, I pay attention only to my daughter.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

She nods and looks at Edward, "H-he…he fell down the stairs," she says with tears streaming down her face, answering his question.

"Dad…my arm…h-hurts…so much," Anthony cries.

Edward lets me go and takes his son in his arms. "Hold on, buddy. Everything will be okay."

I watch him make sure if Lilly is fine, then he turns his back to me to go to the front door.

I know this is not the perfect time, but I'm just too guilty to keep it to myself, so I say, "Edward… I'm sorr—"

"Not now, Bella!" His voice is low, but it is ice cold. It hurts a lot more than if he yelled at me.

I just nod, not able to say anything else.

I help Lilly get up from the floor and I hold her hand as I follow Edward outside the house.

He is so concerned about Anthony that he just takes his keys and goes to his car, not minding closing the door, so I do that for him, even though I don't lock it, since I don't want to bother him by asking for his keys. We're in Forks, after all.

As I walk back to my car with Lilly, I watch him get frustrated as he tries, unsuccessfully, to make his car work.

The next thing I see is Lilly jumping out of her seat and running to Edward as he walks back to his house.

"What happened?" She asks him anxious. "Anthony is crying! He needs to go to the hospital!" She cries. I raise one eyebrow. I know for a fact that if it was her, she would want to do anything _but_ go to a hospital.

I jump out of my seat too and take my child into my arms.

"Lilly, his father knows what's best for him. C'mon, let's go."

"In fact," Edward starts, running his fingers through his unruly hair. "He really needs a doctor. But my car doesn't work." He sighs and smiles sadly at Lilly. "Thanks for caring about Anthony. Once he's okay, I'll make him call you, alright?"

As Edward walks back to his house, I ask, "What are you doing?"

When he looks at me, there's no emotion in his face. "Why do you care?"

I sigh. I deserve this.

"Edward, you've got to get him to the hospital. I think his arm is broken," I tell him. Edward may have been an ass in the past, but it doesn't mean that I'll be indifferent to his child. "Jump in the car. I'll give you a ride."


	5. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters._

_Beta Reader: www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/u/2550803/Angeltales321_

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

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><p><em>Edward POV<em>

"Edward, you've got to get him to the hospital; I think his arm is broken," Bella says. "Jump in the car. I'll give you a ride."

I frown deeply at her. What the hell is wrong with that woman?

I intend to answer her roughly and sarcastically, but Anthony starts crying again and it freaks the hell out of me. I don't know what else I can do besides accept her offer.

As I sit in the backseat with my son in my lap, I take a deep breath to try and calm myself, but what really calms me down is seeing Anthony with his left hand in Lilly's and that she isn't letting him go; she's always telling him that everything will be fine, that he has to hold on just a little more.

I smile. How sweet is that?

I look at Bella and tell her, "Thanks for doing this for Anthony. I appreciate it a lot."

Her answer is a small nod and a smile - a very weak and a very fake smile.

For a moment I think she's going to tell me something, but I'm wrong. She's just too uncomfortable that she can't even look me in my eyes.

_How did we end up like this?_ I shake my head and sigh. We used to be so close…

As she drives, I watch her.

It doesn't take me long to comprehend that her heart is broken and that that's the reason why she's being defensive in this way.

What happened to her?

And what do I have to do with it?

I know I should be mad at her - she did punch me for no reason, after all. But every single time I look at her face, I feel nothing but sorry, which is really sad.

I open my mouth to tell her that we need to talk, for her own good, when she parks the car and says very quickly, "Here we are. Take your time. We're gonna wait for you right here."

"You don't need to—"

"Edward," for the first time, she looks right into my eyes. "You spent the day with my daughter so I could work. Giving you a ride home is the very least I can do."

_Bella POV_

It doesn't take long for them to return. Now, Edward is in the passenger seat and Anthony is in the backseat beside Lilly, jumping up and down. He doesn't seem to be even a little bit upset with a broken arm in a cast. Actually, he's _too_ excited, telling Lilly that she will be the first one to sign it.

"I can't believe it." Edward shakes his head in disbelief even though he has a smile in his face. "Could you tell this kid was crying and screaming just some time ago?"

I don't answer. Why should I? I'm not here to be friends with Edward or make small talk with him. I'm here because he has done me a favor and now I have to pay it back.

As I don't say anything, he looks at me and frowns. "Will you please tell me what your problem with me is, Bella?"

I grip the steering wheel as I keep my eyes on the street. Just his mention of our situation bombards my mind with memories of her.

I know I must let her go. It's not healthy! _Years_ have passed since that happened. But I just can't. _I can't!_

As Edward keeps pushing me to talk to him, I feel like I'm gonna lose it and I can't lose my temper in front of those kids, so I do the first thing that crosses my mind: I drive to the closest and best place where the kids could be – I drive home.

I don't even bother parking in the driveway. I just jump out of the car, hoping that Lilly and Anthony would follow me, and open the door so they could get inside the house.

The thing is: Edward also followed me, thinking that I was going to runaway from him, so once the kids are inside the house, he grabs me by the arm, holding me there.

I can't take it anymore and I start crying for the second time today.

"What the— God, Bella! Please, talk to me. What have I done to you?"

"You ruined my life," I whisper. Now it's time to tell him the truth..


End file.
